I have a stock 1968 coupe with a tired 289 and automatic tran that's losing its 2nd gear. A friend of mine just got rearended in her 1996 5.0L mustang automatic. The insurance company is going to total her car, so I told her I might buy it at salvage value and swap the motor and tranny into my car (plus any other parts that might be worth it). Her car has 26,000 miles on it and was in excelent condition.

Has anyone here done a swap like this? I suspect the hardest part will be converting the '68 to fuel injection. How hard is it (I've swapped motors, etc. before but never an injected motor into a carb-car before)? Where can I go for help, is there a good source for kits for things like converters (if necessary) and harnesses. Can I swap the disk brakes? front end? rear end? Any other parts I should definitely use?

The '68 was my father's car (he passed away last year) and I'm hoping to breath new life into the old 'stang. I'd like to end up with a good daily driver, that looks like a '68 but runs and handles like a good '96 (not a screaming road racer).

Thanks for your help, Jim

 

Double check to make sure her car doesn't have the 4.6L Mod motor. In a '68 you can use pretty much everything but the front suspension. You can even get brackets to use the front calipers.
If you are nervous about a fuel injection swap, and it really is a 5.0, just run a stock intake with a carb.
In the '68, you could use the Mod motor as well. Do some searches.
Just a short list of stuff you can use:

Engine (4.6 or 5.0)
transmission
rear end
Front brake rotors and calipers
complete rear brake system
Master cylinder and booster
Front and rear seats
P-brake assembly (very nice for 4 wheel disc)

And there is plenty more!

Dang, I'm starting to drool, just thinking of the car you could build. Everything, including the EFI mod motor, has all ready been done. Search some different forums, and google. Also rumage around in ebay to see what kind of info/stuff is available to assist.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

forget the '68 dude... put it all into a shelby cobra!

 

WTF?

 

Thanks for the information. I'm still waiting to hear exactly what the insurance is going to do. My friend said the car is a 5.0L. She said it is "the big V8", not the 4.6. Of course, she might want too much for it or the insurance might not total it, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

"Put it in a Cobra"? I wish. . . but all I got is the coupe. I'm trying not to spend all the kid's college money on this project.

What I could really use is someone knowledgable in the Bay Area who won't mind mentoring me through this if I get the 5.0.

Thanks for the info. JH